Lawmakers offer take on 2010 referendums

June 19, 2009|By Mary Shanklin, Sentinel Staff Writer

Constitutional referendums slated for Florida voters to consider next year will either kill development or ease developers' tax burdens, legislators told a group of Orlando-area commercial real estate professionals Thursday.

Three Central Florida lawmakers advised the group to organize opposition to a ballot initiative that would require voter approval for changes to local governments' comprehensive plans, giving voters power over land-use changes needed for development. Backed by Florida Hometown Democracy Inc., the measure has exceeded the 676,811 voter signatures needed to place it on the ballot in November 2010.

The ballot language sounds ambiguous, state Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Heathrow, told a luncheon audience of the NAIOP, an association of commercial real estate development professionals.

"But it's priority No. 1 for all us," Dorworth added.

Alan C. Sheppard Jr., chairman of the group's public affairs committee, said the recession and credit crisis have made it harder to raise funds for political issues, but he said the group needs to band together and contribute financially to defeat the proposal.

"We will need a lot of money if we want to keep developing and continue bringing business to Florida," he said. Sheppard predicted that the measure could halt development altogether.

State Rep. Stephen L. Precourt, R-Winter Garden, said decision time for voters is still a long way off, but "there's a lot of things we could do in the meantime to ding this thing."

One way opponents are trying to undo the ballot initiative is to get legislative approval for allowing people who sign such referendums to later revoke their support. That follows a recent court decision upholding the Hometown Democracy signature process.

Also on the November 2010 ballot is a measure that owners of commercial property should support, legislators told the group. The measure would help cap the property taxes of buildings, warehouses and other structures not used as homes. The amendment would lower the annual cap on assessment increases for those types of commercial properties from 10 percent to 5 percent.

"It's a good thing for us," said state Rep. Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island. "It does spur economic development."

Both ballot proposals would require 60 percent approval from voters to pass.